This blog is written by Neal Goldstein and Robert Bashner, senior partners at Goldstein and Bashner, a Long Island law firm that helps victims of accidents and serious personal injuries. Visit our website at www.eglaw.com for our popular, free booklets on topics that include bullying, finding a good lawyer, car accident guide and changing lawyers.

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Sunday, September 27, 2009

Having been in the business for over twenty years, we are sick and tired of insurance companies taking advantage of injured victims before they have a chance to talk to a lawyer. For years, many insurance companies would tell accident victims not to talk to an attorney. In fact, they used fear to dissuade people from getting good advice.

Guess what? You may not need an attorney to represent you in your case. No one, however, should settle a case without understanding the “legal system.” Remember insurance companies are in business to make money for their owners and/or shareholders. They don’t care about you.

That adjuster just wants to close the file and get you to release all claims.

Here are some of the sleazy tactics insurance companies use just to wear you out and get you to go away.1. Deliberate Delay—They know that often you are in a financial squeeze. Even if you have good health insurance, the fact that you aren’t working may make it difficult to pay co-pays, deductibles, transportation, etc. The insurance company knows you are getting dunned by the doctors, so they take their time with your claim. We have had elderly clients die waiting for their claims to be resolved (don’t think for one moment that some insurance companies don’t actually plan this). In a recent case, we dealt with an insurance company that delayed an delayed until our client died of colon cancer.2. Requesting Unnecessary Information—Insurance companies will insist that you track down every little piece of information before “We can evaluate the claim.” Even if the information they are now asking for would not add a penny to their offer, they are happy to wait another six weeks for you to track it down. Meanwhile, they are earning interest on the money they are NOT paying you.3. Disputing Medical Treatment—Even though I’ve never met an adjuster who went to medical school, they seem to know just what treatment is right for you! Usually, they “know” that you were over treated because “our computers say you should have been better by now.” Insurance companies frequently hire the same doctors over and over again to write negative reports about injured clients. Often the conclusions of these doctors are so preposterous, it makes our blood boil.4. Nickel and Dime the Medical Charges—Think about it. IF they shave just 5% off your claim and can do that to the millions of claims made each year, they get richer.5. Misrepresenting Insurance Benefits—This is a big one. They tell you there’s only $100,000 coverage. We file suit and “magically” find an umbrella policy! Many times in car accidents, the defendant has a homeowners or umbrella insurance policy that covers above their auto insurance.6. Acting Like Your Friend and Making False Promises—Many insurance companies are lazy intentionally, and don’t actively seek to resolve claims until their insured is sued or the case is awaiting trial. Watch out for the adjuster who befriends you, shows up at your house and promises to pay your future medical bills. We know of one company that shows how they do this in television ads. This is a tactic to stop you from hiring a lawyer. They won’t come around your house once you have a lawyer. Those future medical bills? Well, they’ll pay them until their computer says “too much, too much, this claim is costing us too much.”We wrote this report so you can become empowered. Knowledge arms and protects you from predatory insurance companies.We were also sick and tired of outrageous lawyer advertising where lawyers with a reputation for handling hundreds of cases at a time make promises that can’t be kept or equate your injury to “cash, cash, cash.” Did you ever notice that almost all of the attorney ads in the yellow pages claim personal injury expertise? Many lawyers, who NEVER go to court, settle each case for pennies on the dollar. There are also attorneys who don’t have the knowledge of when to settle a claim and will recklessly take your case to trial. Experienced lawyers know when to settle a claim and when to go to trial. The insurance companies know who they are and so should you.

Finally, we are also tired of lawyers who file frivolous lawsuits because these claims hurt everyone by delaying real claims from getting to court. If you are looking for a lottery win, look elsewhere. If you are looking never to work again because someone tapped you from behind at a red light, look elsewhere. Our firm handles legitimate claims for legitimate claimants. No “quick cash for your pain” here. Sorry.

9 comments:

I totally agree with this well written article on this particular topic. As a seasoned private investigator, High Quality Investigations, handling insurance fraud cases for the past 30 years I must say you are right on point with the insurance industries tactics, frivilous lawsuits and those inexperienced attorney's. The court system is bogged down enough without them, and legitimate cases need to make their way. Policy holders need to pay attention and be empowered. Thank you for this article.

Not only do I agree 100%, it gets worse. Due to such poor lawyer advertising the expectation of injured individuals becomes blown way out of proportion. As a practitioner for over 17 years I cannot beleive how many prospective clients get upset when I tell them I do not want to handle their case or that its just not worth it. Looking at cases in the right way helps both injured individuals, the perception of attorneys and the legal system. Way to go Neal and Bob! Brian Mittman www.markhofflaw.com

I do agree 100 % that insurance company use several tactics to make one go away so that carrier won't have pay off the claim requested. They not only try to influence the insured person to settle the claim with the minimal possible value with the help of adjusters to earn more benefits.

Hello there! Thank you for sharing your thoughts about personal injury lawyers. I am glad to stop by your site and know more about personal injury lawyers. Keep it up! This is a good read. You have such an interesting and informative page. I will be looking forward to visit your page again and for your other posts as well. As with other types of lawyers, personal injury lawyers may choose to start a solo practice or join a small, mid-size, or large law firm as an associate. Personal injury lawyers may also be partners (owners) of a law firm or strive to be a partner.Keep a journal or diary of great detail regarding how your injuries and the pain is affecting your life and the lives of your family members. Include what medical treatment you are receiving, how it is working, and, if you are taking medications, how they are affecting you. Also detail your ability or inability to work, and how much time and income you have lost as a result of your injuries.

Hello! Keep it up! This is a good read. You have such an interesting and informative page. I will be looking forward to visit your page again and for your other posts as well. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about personal injury attorney in your area. I am glad to stop by your site and know more about personal injury attorney. American Bar Association is a professional association dedicated to improving the legal system and providing accreditation for law schools and continuing legal education programs.It can be difficult to judge the extent of your suffering and identify a dollar amount that will be sufficient to compensate you for your personal injury. Accidents can change the course of a life in a way that no monetary compensation can make up for. Cases of wrongful death are even more difficult to deal with for the obvious reason that a monetary value cannot be placed on life. However, we do not think that economic hardship should be added to a family’s difficulties in this situation. There are several aspects of your injury and its affect on your life that must be taken into consideration when deciding the amount of money you want to file a claim for.